Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [dynamics]

For questions related to the intensity, or loudness, of sound.

128 questions
35
votes
4 answers

How necessary is a USB Audio Interface?

I'm currently recording songs on my computer and the quality of my microphone is awful and the microphone is very quiet. That doesn't surprise me, because it's a 20$ karaoke microphone... I got into a shop and wanted to look for a new microphone.…
muffin
  • 2,037
  • 3
  • 19
  • 37
23
votes
5 answers

Why crescendo or decrescendo over one long note in piano music?

That C-chord on measure 6 of the system, from Grieg Piano Sonata, Op. 7, IV. Finale - Molto Allegro: Why couldn't they just mark that D7 chord with a p? That G chord is marked pp. Once you press a key on a piano and hold it, you cannot modify the…
Mickael Caruso
  • 1,193
  • 1
  • 10
  • 17
18
votes
4 answers

Tell pianist to play entire piece softly, except one part

I've composed a short melody, however I'm very new to all this piano theory, how would I tell the pianist to play the entire piece softly? (mp, not pp), and how would I write exceptions for specific notes? For example, take this piece of music. How…
H chalmers
  • 191
  • 1
  • 5
18
votes
9 answers

Playing one hand loudly and the other quietly

I'm currently learning to play Comptine d'un autre été from Yann Tiersen (Sheet music(pdf) - youtube video) and when I play starting from the 13th bar I barely hear the notes my right hand plays. Obviously I should play my left hand less loud but…
Stormenet
  • 727
  • 1
  • 7
  • 12
17
votes
4 answers

What are the feelings & emotions behind chords?

I studied some different books on Music Theory and all were too much scientific and definitely very helpful to some point. Now that I have started writing some songs, I feel I need to know more about emotions and feelings behind chords. There must…
Manoochehr
  • 972
  • 4
  • 13
  • 22
16
votes
6 answers

Techniques for "Dynamics" with Distortion on Electric Guitar

Recently I went to a workshop on electric guitar. Between several subjects, the presenter talked about dynamics with distortion. He said that you can use palm mute to create the effect of a "growing melody". For example, you start your song with a…
Gustavo Meira
  • 291
  • 2
  • 6
15
votes
3 answers

Dynamic marking "f-p"

I know that: The dynamic marking f means forte, or play loud. And that p means piano, or play soft. The dynamic marking fp means fortepiano, or play this note loud, and play the following notes soft. I have an old music book that uses the…
Elements in Space
  • 10,785
  • 2
  • 23
  • 67
15
votes
4 answers

How do pianists reach extremely loud dynamics?

This question of mine started when I heard the piano score of Mars by Gustav Holst. Here is the piano score: How do the pianists even reach triple f? I myself have come across extreme dynamics in piano pieces even by Romantic Period composers…
Caters
  • 6,256
  • 2
  • 29
  • 74
13
votes
4 answers

What's the name, and symbol, for the "normal" dynamic volume? (between mp and mf)

Let's say I'm singing and there's no dynamic mark at the start. I'll sing at my default "normal" volume. Then there's an mp so i get a bit quieter. If there had been an mf I would have got a bit louder. If, after the mp, I was supposed to go back…
Max Williams
  • 303
  • 2
  • 8
13
votes
1 answer

Strange dynamic marking 'fmo' in Clementi sonata

I have come across an odd dynamics marking 'fmo' whilst studying at a copy of Clementi's Sonata in Bb major, Op. 24, No. 2, dated c1790. The below image shows mvmt. 1, mm. 90–94. Newer editions have the marking as ff, although ff is used elsewhere…
NBoss
  • 325
  • 1
  • 5
11
votes
3 answers

Duration of staccato

Is there such a thing as a duration of a staccato note? I mean if you play a whole note staccato and an eighth note staccato, should the duration be the same? What if somebody needs an extra short note how to write that? Or a longer staccato?
SovereignSun
  • 3,721
  • 6
  • 24
  • 56
11
votes
3 answers

What staff affected by a dynamic mark?

If I see in piano sheet music, say, "mp" mark between bass and treble staves, which staff should be played in "mp" dynamics? Reverse question: if I want to apply a dynamic mark to a specified staff, how to notate this?
user15155
11
votes
5 answers

Can I make Electronic Drums even more quiet?

I live in an apartment and recently bought a Yamaha dtxtreme III. Luckily I live on the bottom floor and have no one under me, however the drums are facing a wall that I share with my neighbors. The pads sound like I'm hitting a phone book and the…
Bryce
  • 111
  • 1
  • 1
  • 3
10
votes
1 answer

How do I write hairpins and dynamics between staves in LilyPond?

Here's a minimal example of the sort of result I want to produce in LilyPond. (This was produced in Finale.) Notice that the crescendo-stop, f, and decrescendo-start align with a note in the bottom staff only and the decrescendo-stop and last p…
Victor
  • 103
  • 5
9
votes
4 answers

Dynamics using m, r, s, and z. What do they mean?

I've seen these dynamics that are notated with: 'm', 'r', 's', and 'z', but I don't know what the mean. I might have an idea to what 'm' means, which might mean 'medium' like in mp or mf, but I don't know about the others. Here are some dynamics…
Xboy1
  • 135
  • 2
  • 7
1
2 3
…
8 9